The Beach : A Movie Lesson Plan by Simon Howell <www.simonhowell.com> Topics / Themes in this lesson.

Travel, Strange Food and New Experiences. Class Level & Timing. Pre-intermediate or higher. The lesson usually takes about 2 x 90-minute class periods. Materials. A copy of the movie The Beach. (Starring Leonardo DiCaprio). 1 copy of each worksheet per student. Worksheet 1 : The Beach : Watching The Movie Worksheet 2 : The Beach : Snake Blood & New Experiences Worksheet 3 : The Beach : Different Experiences Lesson Overview. Activity Activity Activity Activity Activity Activity Activity Activity 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 : : : : : : : : Travel Talk Describing the Movie to a partner. First Listening Listen & Fill in the Blanks. Speaking Questions. Snakeblood Sequence. Strange Food. Gross & Yummy. Experiences Find Someone Who

Activity 1 : Before watching the movie : Travel Talk Write the topic Travel on the blackboard. Divide students (Ss) into groups and give them a few minutes to make some questions related to the topic Travel. Give some examples first. Possible example questions : Do you like traveling ? Why ? Why not ? Have you ever been abroad ? Where did you go ? Have you ever done a homestay ? Did you enjoy it ? Why ? Why not ? Where have you been in Japan ? Which place did you like the best ? Where is the best place youve ever been (in the world) ? Why do you like it so much ? If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why ? After the Ss have had some time to make their own questions, ask a student from each group to write some of their questions on the board. All Ss can then use any of the questions on the board to interview their partners / group members. Remind Ss to ask follow-up questions !
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The Beach : A Movie Lesson Plan by Simon Howell <www.simonhowell.com> As the movie is set in Thailand, you might want to find out if anyone has been to Thailand. You could ask them to share some of their experiences. Activity 2 : Describing the Movie to a partner. Divide Ss into groups or pairs. Ask Ss to janken or flip a coin to decide who is the Teacher. Ss who are not teachers must turn around and look at the back of the classroom. They may not watch the movie. Teachers may watch the movie and will later have to tell their partners as much as they can about what they have seen. This activity can be quite challenging depending on the level of your students. To make it easier, you can divide Ss into bigger groups and increase the number of Teachers. The Teachers can then help each other to explain the movie to the Ss who have not seen it. You could also skip this activity if you feel your Ss would not be able to handle it. Switch the SOUND OFF. Play the first part of the movie, from the beginning up to the point where Richard (Leonardo DiCaprio) finishes drinking snake blood. Stop the movie, switch off the monitor and ask the teachers to tell their partners as much as they can about what theyve seen. Monitor and be ready to help. After finishing this activity, play the movie again with no sound so that everyone can see it. Ask Ss to quickly ask each other Does this movie look interesting ? Why ? Why not ?. Activity 3 : First Listening **** Don't give the worksheet to the students yet **** SOUND ON. Play a very short section from the movie, just Richards introduction speech - the same speech youll see on the Listen and Fill in the blanks worksheet. Ask the Ss to quickly note down any key words they hear. They can choose their own key words - whatever they feel is important. Ss compare keywords with a partner. Play the movie sequence again to give Ss another chance to collect keywords.

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The Beach : A Movie Lesson Plan by Simon Howell <www.simonhowell.com> Variations : You could also set some listening questions. Possible Questions : What is the mans name ? What are 3 things that he is looking for ? How long was he on the plane ? Where is he now ? Activity 4 : Listen & Fill in the Blanks. Give Ss a copy of Worksheet 1. Ask Ss to listen and fill in the blanks. Remind them that some of their keywords may help them. Ss can work together to check their answers. Youll probably need to play the movie more than once. Notes : Ss usually have trouble with the words dumb and plastic meals. Youll need to explain the vocabulary. Option if you are using DVD. Switch the English subtitles on. Play the section of the movie again and Ss can check their answers from the subtitles. This is also an excellent chance to point out that Ss can use DVDs to help learn English from their favorite movies. Activity 5 : Speaking Questions. Ss do the speaking questions on Worksheet 1. Activity 6 : Snakeblood Sequence. Give Ss a copy of Worksheet 2. Play the rest of the movie sequence up to the point where Leonardo has finished drinking snake blood. Ss can follow part of the conversation on their worksheets if they wish. Ss then do discussion questions on their worksheet. Youll probably need to explain the expression outstay your welcome. Activity 7 : Strange Food. Gross & Yummy. Strange Food is usually a very interesting topic. Ask the Ss to write some of the strange foods theyve eaten on the blackboard. Its also a good chance to introduce some of the unique foods from your own country. Im Australian, so I usually talk about Vegemite. You can also introduce vocabulary such as : gross and yum / yummy.

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The Beach : A Movie Lesson Plan by Simon Howell <www.simonhowell.com> Ask Ss to ask each other : What is something gross youve eaten recently ? What is something yummy youve eaten recently ? Activity 8 : Experiences Find Someone Who Give Ss a copy of the Experiences : Find Someone Who Worksheet. Ask Ss to add 3 questions of their own into the last 3 boxes. Ss need to talk to as many different Ss as possible and should use follow up questions to get more information for each question.

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Worksheet 1 : The Beach : The Beginning

Listening : Please Fill in the Blanks.

My name is __________ . So what else do you need to know ? stuff about my family or where I'm from. None of that matters. Not once you __________ the __________, and cut yourself loose looking for something more ______________, something more ______________ and yes, I admit something more _______________.

So after _________ hours on the back of an airplane, three _________ movies, two __________ meals, six ___________ and absolutely

no __________, I finally _________ ___________ in ___________. Speaking Questions

Have you ever been on a plane ? If yes, where did you go ? Did you have a good flight ? Do you like flying? If no, Where would you like to fly to ? Why ? How do you think De Caprio feels about flying ? Why do you think so ? Which do you prefer, traveling by bus or traveling by train ? Why ? Would you like to go somewhere dangerous ? Why ? Why not ? Would you like to be a flight attendant or pilot ? Why ? Why not ? Would you like to be a travel agent ? Why ? Why not ? When you travel, what kind of places do you like to go to ? Why ? Which do you prefer, traveling alone or traveling with a group ? Why ? Would you like to go to Bangkok ? Why ? Why not ? When was the last time you had absolutely no sleep ? Tell your partner about it.

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Worksheet 2 : The Beach : Snake Blood & New Experiences

From the Script... You wanna drink snake blood? Wait a minute. Did you say snake blood ? Oh Yeah, No thanks What is wrong with snake blood? I just don't like the idea Maybe you're scared. Afraid of something new. I just don't like the idea. Like every tourist. You want it all to be safe. Just like America. So never refuse an invitation (*) Never resist the unfamiliar (*) Never fail to be polite (*) Gentlemen, that was excellent Never outstay your welcome (*)

Man Richard Man Richard Man Richard Man Richard Man Richard

Speaking Questions.

Would you like to try snake blood ? Why ? Why not ? Why do you think people drink snake blood ? In the beginning, Richard didnt want to drink snake blood. Why do you think he changed his mind ? Is he telling the truth when he says "Gentlemen, that was excellent" ? Why do you think so? What's the strangest food you've ever eaten ? Talk about it. What is the most delicious food youve ever eaten ? Talk About it. What is the most dangerous thing youve ever done ? Talk about it. What is something dangerous that youd like to try ? Why ? What are you afraid of ? Why ? Have you ever outstayed your welcome ? Talk About it. Richard gives you some travel advice, marked (*) in the script above. Do you think this is good advice ? Why ? Why not ? List 3 more items of travel advice.
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Worksheet 3 : The Beach : Different Experiences

Find Someone Who

Name

More Information

has been overseas recently

has been to a lot of places in Japan

would like to be a flight attendant

is afraid of snakes

has eaten a really strange food

has done something dangerous

has been to Thailand

has done a homestay

has outstayed their welcome

has said its delicious even though something tasted really bad

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